In a message dated 12/28/2004 11:04:07 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I urge people to be responsible breeders and learn as much as you can about any animal you raise BEFORE you bring it home. BE PREPARED for birthing issues. Carol I agreed with your response and still do. I guess I was making the same point that you were. Many times I see folks around here that move out on 5 acres then cannot pay for the land so they sell off half of it and still keep the same amount of animals. I don't see how any halfway rational thinking person can believe that 2.5 acres will support 3 horses, a calf ( for beef) and 5 goats without carrying feed to them 24 hours a day. I have bought horses from these folks just to keep them from dying. This is not just one family around here, there are many.... I have 27 blackbellies now, and 2 donkeys. They were grazing on 6 acres of pasture and 5 acres of Barley that was 6 inches tall. Within a month, they had the Barley grubbed down. These are well fed animals all the time. I was fortunate that I only had to move the electric fence over, but not everyone has 40 acres of green forage at their disposal.
When I see animals longing for the green forage over their fence when they are being fed only hay or grain, To me, that is animal abuse. Of course I should mention that my veterinarian ,my best friend, says that there was never an undernourished animal around my place. Most of the time they too fat. I am rambling, just wanted to say I agreed, but wanted to give the animals a chance. Too many have touted the feed efficiency of Blackbellies like they talk about their car mileage.... Nothing takes the place of good nutrition. And I would be happy to help anyone on the list with anyu problems, but as you stated many times all we get on the first post is "my sheep is sick" Perhaps we should have a FAQ list for what to note when posting a problem or what symptoms to list or history to list before calling the vet..... It would help the owner when discussing the problem with the vet and I know it would help the vet... My vet always talks with admiration about having to see a client who knows enough about the animal to discuss the problems and symptoms..... Just my $0.02 Cecil Bearden Oklahoma =============================================== This message is from the Blackbelly Sheep mailing list (http://www.awrittenword.com/listserv/index.html). To respond to this message, send e-mail to [email protected] To unsubscribe or change your membership options, go to http://lists.coyotenet.net/mailman/listinfo/blackbelly To search the archives, go to http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
